


Return to Sender

by MilkyMickeyWay



Series: You’ve Got Mail [2]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mail Carrier, Postman - Freeform, Postman!Ian, Sizzler’s, Sizzler’s Date, sizzlers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:09:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25538575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilkyMickeyWay/pseuds/MilkyMickeyWay
Summary: After charming Mickey into a date, Ian arrives at the Milkovich house after hours to sweep a certain grumpy dark haired man off his feet.
Relationships: Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Series: You’ve Got Mail [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1855696
Comments: 43
Kudos: 143





	Return to Sender

**Author's Note:**

> Wow! I am blown away by how nice people responded to my first fic in the series. I had so many people asking to see their date that I had to write it! I had a ton of fun with this one!
> 
> Thank you Heather for beta-ing my work yet again 😅

Fiddling with the hem of his black tight tshirt, Ian stood outside of the same house he’d been by that morning before. He hadn’t seen Mickey since he proclaimed they were going on a date, but when he pulled open the Milkovich mailbox the next day a note had been waiting for him.

_Cocky shit, aren’t you? Better be on time._

It wasn’t written on anything fancy, just a coffee stained post-it note, but still, Ian felt butterflies in his stomach at the thought. He pictured Mickey smirking as he wrote the note, sitting at a kitchen table, cigarette in hand. Or maybe he didn’t smoke inside, since he was always outside when Ian came by. Still, the thought of those tattooed hands holding a cigarette up to those pouty pink lips just did Ian in.

He braced himself as he took step after step up the old concrete stairs, before standing right outside the door. He lifted his hand and knocked , heard feet run across the house at the sound and then the door was thrown open. Yevgeny stood right inside the doorway, a smile lighting up his whole face.

“Ian! My dad told me your name.”

He couldn’t help but grin at the excitement over such a small detail. Yev was fucking adorable, with an attitude the exact opposite of his moody father. “Yeah, Yev. It’s Ian. Ian Gallagher. Nice to formally meet you.”

He stuck out his hand, a smile growing as the blond child thrusted his tiny hand into Ian’s.

A figure appeared behind Yevgeny, with twinkling eyes but a face that refused to betray his feelings. “Hey, sorry. Svet’s late to pick up the kid meat.” He clasped his hand on Yev’s shoulder. “ _He’s_ not fuckin’ coming with us.”

The way Mickey stressed that made Ian wonder if Yev had wanted to tag along. He probably didn’t quite understand dates yet, judging by his age. The boy puffed out his lip into a pout while Mickey moved aside and cocked his head toward the rest of the house, indicating that Ian should follow him.

The house wasn’t much, to be honest. It had a vibe similar to the Gallagher home, but smaller and unsurprisingly in need of just as many repairs. It smelled a bit smokey (Ian felt satisfaction at his daydream being correct) but was overall mostly clean. The wall held varying photos of Yevgeny over the years in mismatched picture frames. The photos weren’t exactly sized right either, showing white backs from too small photos being placed in them. Further down he could see into a bedroom, with what looked like hand me down Power Rangers scattered all around the floor.

Ian took the chance to admire Mickey’s appearance, noting he was wearing a tan button up with his sleeves just barely rolled up, a pair of nicer jeans than he normally donned, and slicked back hair. It was clear he’d put in a bit of extra effort for the night. His eyes darted down to the tatted fingers, nearly commending him for leaving the words exposed. They were just such a part of him, Ian couldn’t bear to see them covered.

“Should be here in a second, then we can-“

“Do you like your job, Mr. Ian?” Yevgeny cut in as he finished stuffing what looked to be more toys—not clothes—in an overnight bag. Ian saw the noticeable annoyance on Mickey’s face, watching him raise his hand up to scratch at his eyebrow. It seemed to be a tick of his, just one of many wordless ways Mickey displayed his feelings for Ian to decipher..

He laughed at the kid’s constant enthusiasm. “Yeah, I do. Pays the bills.”

Mickey grunted in acknowledgement at this, but a lapse in their conversation developed after that. Yev seemed just fine with it, now struggling to zip up the nearly bursting plastic red backpack. Ian wasn’t really sure what to say with a kid there, and a lifetime of living in a family that often overlooked the kids in the room wasn’t exactly the pool of experience he planned to pull from.

He chose to awkwardly cough, looking down at the ground as he leaned against a counter. He felt a hand touch his before raising his eyes to meet Mickey’s. The dark-haired man was making eye contact with him, gently rubbing his fingers across Ian’s knuckles.

About that time, the front door swung open. A tall woman, noticeably even taller than her ex, stood with a grin even more devious than the one Mickey normally wore. Her eyes immediately honed in on their hands touching.

“Ex- husband, am I late for date with other rainbow man?” Ian watched the woman named Svetlana, he remembered from her letter to Yevgeny, rake her eyes down his body. “Very orange.”

Once again, Ian extended his hand out for a handshake. Under the intense gaze of Svetlana, he felt like a high school kid picking up his date. “Ian Gallagher, friendly neighborhood postman.”

Mickey snorted and Svetlana looked confused before turning to her ex. “You put dick inside mailman? What happens when relationship is over? I tell you, it will be awkward.”

That earned a grunt before Mickey snapped back, “Jesus, Svet. He’s literally standing right fucking there.”

The comment didn’t phase her whatsoever. Yevgeny finished his struggle with the zipper, after unpacking and repacking until everything fit except a sad abandoned stuffed lion, before suddenly shooting up. He tossed the bag over his shoulder before trotting to stand next to his mom. She reached her hand out as Yev’s grabbed hers and he beamed. He was really just a ridiculously happy kid. If all went well tonight, Ian might try and set up a play date between him and Franny. God knew she needed to meet people outside his family, plus Debbie seemed to always be a tad regretful over her lack of friends.

“You pick him up Tuesday. _Khorosho_? No being late.”

“The fuck? You were late today,” Mickey scoffed. “Okay, you know what? Bye. Just get the fuck out.”

Mickey hugged his son goodbye and flipped his exoff for good measure. The smirk she shot back reinforced that the relationship the pair had wasn't normal, but they didn’t seem to hate each other. At least, from what Ian saw. The two of them waited until the mother and son duo disappeared out the door.

Mickey turned towards Ian before exhaling and saying, “Fuck sorry. Didn’t expect you to meet the ex already. Probably planned the damn thing. Never late any other fucking day to get Yev.”

Ian laughed, feeling any leftover tension melt away. “It’s no big deal. Really, I live with my family and shit’s no better there. You ready to go?”

They headed out the door and began walking down the street. Ian felt kinda embarrassed he didn’t have a ride to get them from point A to point B, but Mickey didn’t seem to mind. He just walked down the sidewalk as if he expected this already. Ian had planned on the date being somewhere fancy but was shut down by Mickey immediately. Apparently he didn’t think Ian needed to pull out all the stops, and besides, “isn’t a fat juicy steak from Sizzler’s better?”

Ian had to admit, Sizzler’s may just be some generic cheap restaurant, but they could make a damn good burger. They hopped on the L to get to the restaurant. Ian hadn’t realized that it was a bit of a ride, but Mickey just seemed content to sit next to him on the train, making small talk, shooting the shit just to pass the time Ian learned that Mickey didn’t have nearly as many siblings as most thought. He only had a sister and two brothers, but had so many cousins in and out of his house that everyone just assumed they were all Terry’s. He was a bit convinced some of them might actually be half siblings, but didn’t have any solid proof though.

Ian told him about the Gallaghers, about where the many of them had ended up. Fiona was managing Patsy’s, Debbie a mom, Lip was settled down with a girl and their baby, Liam was still in school, and Carl wasn’t in jail.

That earned a laugh out of the man, a sound that was practically music to Ian’s ears. “Ain’t exactly a fun place to be.”

His mouth dropped a bit in surprise, not quite expecting that answer from Mickey. “Oh, you been?”

This was met with an eyebrow raise, Mickey’s favorite natural reaction. “Yeah, when Yev was almost one. Got busted helping my pops with the _family business_.”

“Oh. Well, shitty dads. Am I right?”

Mickey turned towards Ian then with a look he didn’t quite recognize at first, before it slowly morphed into a satisfied but smug smile.

The train came to a stop then, effectively ending their current conversation before they exited the station and started off in the direction of the restaurant.

The walked the rest of the way before arriving at the tan building sporting a white _Sizzlers_ sign, complete with art integrating what appeared to be fake smoke as if the word was sizzling itself. It was cheesy as fuck if he was honest.

Ian held the door open, forcing Mickey to sidestep him and walk in first. “Ain’t a fucking lady.”

“Still my date, though.”

The tiny perky host asked them how many in their party, leading them to a booth when Mickey held up two fingers. She hesitated at the table after laying down their menus, shooting Ian a flirty smile before practically sauntering off. Mickey groaned at the act. “She really think you’re straight? Pegged you for gay your first day delivering.”

Ian snorted. “Did not. You almost went into shock when I admitted it.”

An eyebrow raise met that statement. “Yeah, you’re a gay man on the southside. You let me know exactly how many of those fuckers you’ve met that are out and proud.”

Ian blanked. Mickey had a point, he didn’t exactly meet too many others who were out. Not until they moved, at least. It’s why he could read Mickey so well.

A not-so-bubbly waitress came up to them to ask for their drink order. She hastily scribbled down an Old Style and a water. Mickey’s eyes met Ian as he turned down an alcohol drink before settling on water.

Ian always hated this part of a date, it didn’t seem long enough to strike up heavy conversation but he could feel Mickey’s curiosity about why he, the son of Frank Gallagher, was turning down alcohol.

He should have known Mickey wasn’t going to beat around the bush. “Frank scare you off drinking?”

“No, surprisingly. Didn’t hit the Russian roulette for that one.” He figured he would just leave off that fact that he was really more like Frank’s biological nephew than son. “Lip won that round. Just on meds that don’t mix with alcohol all that well.”

About that time their waitress showed back up with their drinks. She was sloshing beer everywhere, a sight that had Mickey narrowing his eyes. They placed their orders, a fourteen ounce ribeye steak for Mickey and just a classic burger for Ian, before the server scooped up their menus and disappeared to the back.

“So mailman, huh? Aren’t you the Gallagher that ran around in military clothes during school?”

Ian blinked, surprised that Mickey even knew who he was enough to remember that. “Uh, yeah. That would be me. I wanted to be in the army. Didn’t work out though.”

He wasn’t ashamed of his disorder anymore, he just didn’t know the best way to lay it out there. “Yeah? Delivering to your favorite neighborhood family top that?”

It was Ian’s turn to mirror Mickey’s grin that was always followed by him being up to no good. “Yeah, Mrs. Sage on South Drake is pretty much a top tier customer. Free tea daily and the only downside is the threat of being eaten alive by a chihuahua.”

That earned him a scoff. “Yeah, fucking whatever. Guess who just lost his free Dunkin?”

Ian nervously laughed at that, hoping he didn’t fuck that up. He managed to squeeze in a few more minutes of sleep now that he didn’t wake up first to make coffee. “What about you? What do you do?”

A blush spread across Mickey’s cheeks before he lifted his hand to nervously scratch at his eyebrow. “Look, nobody’s exactly fuckin’ fighting to hire an ex-convict. Only place I could land a gig at was Old Army in the mall. Security.”

Ian chuckled, earning a death glare from across the table. “Sounds like you’re more army than me, huh?” Luckily, the glare turned to a smirk, Ian pleased with himself he was able to turn Mickey’s mood around so quickly.

Before long, two wooden plates were served by the waitress from before, who had yet shown back up to give them refills, but Ian honestly just liked the alone time with Mickey. The two scarfed their food down, Ian receiving another glare when he reached across and plucked a fry from Mickey’s plate. No retaliation came from the act so he felt pretty confident Mickey didn’t actually care.

Once the two pushed away empty plates, their waitress returned with a bill, causing a slight argument between the pair over who would pay. Mickey ultimately won, despite Ian’s logic that _he_ technically did the asking out so he should pay. He insisted that he leave the tip at least, something Mickey shrugged his shoulders at.

While sitting waiting for change, Ian danced around trying to pry to find out more about Yev. He didn’t exactly want Mickey to feel forced to ‘introduce him to the kid’ more than he’d already naturally been around him, but he kinda already adored the small angelic-looking child.

Thankfully, Mickey was quickly learning how Ian’s mind worked. “Yev’s a smart kid, way smarter than I was. Kid may have been an accident— and it was no happy fucking accident, believe me— but he’s still the best thing I got going for myself.”

A wad of change was haphazardly tossed on the table, their server clearly not caring even more once a tip was left. Mickey shot her a killer scowl and Ian jumped up to leave. He grabbed Mickey’s shoulders to steer him out and prevent him from possibly murdering the woman. Either way, it’s not like they’d get any service at this point.

Walking back to the L, their hands kept brushing before Ian willed the courage to push Mickey’s noticeable boundaries a bit and lace their hands together. It earned a slight tug away and a quickly muttered apology. “Fuck, sorry. Look, it’s not you, Brave. Just ain’t exactly used to all this romance.”

He nodded, knowing his eyes reflected disappointment.

Once boarded for their journey home, Ian took in the fact that they were nearly in an empty car. Mickey immediately picked up on why the other man perked up, before sighing and reaching across to grab Ian’s hand. “Calm the hell down, it’s just hand holding.”

Ian’s face was still lit up, looking down at their linked hands. He admired the faded letters, noticing how sloppy they appeared. Then again, he didn’t exactly expect something so brash to also be professionally done.

The ride home consisted of more small talk, which turned into a bit of larger talk as Mickey didn’t exactly live a casual life. Everything in his life, save his stature, was big and bold. Ian learned that Mickeywas pressured into marrying Svetlana, already realizing and yet denying his feelings for men. The pair had divorced when she realized Mickey wasn’t going to make her dream nuclear American family come true and Terry was arrested. With Terry having so many days against him, Mickey decided that showing up at the jail and taunting his pops about his love of dick was exactly what he needed to do. Needless to say the scene his dear old dad made had earned him solitary.

Though eyes nearly watering from all the hurt Mickey had been put through, Ian bent over laughing from the satisfaction just hearing about that story.

Sooner than it seemed, and sooner than Ian wanted, their exit came up and both men tumbled out of the train car. Under the cloak of the night, Ian managed to sneak Mickey’s hand back into his. He could practically see the red shining on Mickey’s face, so bright that even the night couldn’t conceal it.

They arrived outside of the Milkovich house, way too fast for Ian’s taste, before stopping on the front porch. He took in Mickey shuffling his weight to one side, face appearing conflicted over what to do. Every movie ever indicated that this moment was the perfect time for Ian to lean across and kiss Mickey, but not every movie covered what to do when your date had spent his life being a highly repressed gay man with the number one fagbasher in the midwest as a father. “Had fun, Gallagher. Maybe we can-“

Ian’s mouth connected with Mickey’s then. Apparently he didn’t need a cheesy chick flick to tell him he needed to touch those pink beautiful lips. His brain temporarily shorted out, completely forgetting about his worries of mere seconds ago. He felt Mickey startle before he ultimately returned the kiss, just barely twisting his head to the side and inhaling in. Ian hummed, hands snaked up to Mickey’s face to lightly drag fingers across his cheek.

Before long, the kiss was broken but both men rested their foreheads together. “Was gonna say we should do that again.”

Ian broke contact, leaning back before pulling out the same yellow post-it note from the mailbox and playfully sticking it against Mickey’s forehead. “Return to sender.”

He peeled the note off, eyes scanning over it before landing on a phone number scribbled at the bottom. A real smile transformed the shorter man’s face from the grumpy look Ian had initially earned. “You’re a huge fucking dork, you know that?”

Ian closed the space again with his own matching smile on his face, planning on leaving with one last goodnight kiss but once their mouths disconnected Mickey spoke up, “So, hey, I mean, Yev’s out and I got this whole damn place to myself. Whaddyau say?”

A grin that was so wide and devilish spread across Ian’s face, before he answered, “What are we waiting for then?”

**Author's Note:**

> Khorosho is either Russian for okay or good or something to that affect but it seemed like it was ballpark close enough not to ask Jane So last minute. Jane if you’re here and I’m wrong don’t let me keep embarrassing myself lol


End file.
